Questions are being asked about how the costs of two long-promised new railway stations at Marsh Barton in Exeter and Edginswell in Torquay have tripled and whether they will ever get built.

The Department of Transport last November refused to fund the stations after costings rose from around £4m to nearer £13m. But a spokesman for the department later said their concerns were not about costs.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "It's not about cost. Both bids need further development around time-tabling before we can support them through the New Station Fund."

Read More

“I can’t see why either of these stations should cost anything like the amount. I cannot find out why the costs have risen so much. There is no way they should be costing £7m let alone £13m.

“There is a clear case for both station to be built, we need more stations. But if you were the Department for Transport would you want to put money into something that has tripled in cost? It is going to be very difficult to justify spending on other stations in the region. Think of what you could build for £13m.”

The next New Station Fund round of Government cash is expected to be in 2020.

Teignbridge District Council has said it is still committed to building the station.

The site of the proposed Marsh Barton train station at Clapperbrook Lane

After the project was turned down a Devon County Council spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed not to receive funding from the latest round of New Stations Funding and, as a result, it unfortunately means that the proposed scheme for a station at Marsh Barton will now be further delayed.

“In making its decision on funding, the Department for Transport shared our concerns at the substantial rise in costs, but they recognised that the scheme has merit, and we will be taking them up on their offer to review the scheme with them and Network Rail. The scheme will remain on hold until this meeting can be arranged with the DfT.”

Torbay Council has already spent more than £500,000 on the station project, originally projected to cost £2.5m, and though it is still committed to the scheme, now wants to see further funding from other sources.

The site of the Edginswell Railway Station (Image: Google Mapws)

Members agreed not to commit any more funding to the £13m project than an extra £178,000 to get it ready to roll, they were told the Department for Transport considered it would be good value for money. They were told the advice was that while the business case stacked up and the station was worth the investment, there were issues with track alignment and signalling. The department did not think the station would be deliverable by March 2021.